Popular airport vending machines stocked with local maker goods won’t make the move to new terminal

When Kansas City’s new terminal opens Feb. 28 — booked full of local brands — a retail startup that weathered nearly a decade (and a pandemic that grounded much of the nation’s air travel) at the airport won’t be among those selling KC goods at the new shopping destination, its founders announced this week.

Suzanne Southard and Tiffany King, SouveNEAR

SouveNEAR — a woman-owned business selling locally-crafted artful souvenirs from airport vending machines — launched at Kansas City International Airport in 2014 to provide a showcase for Kansas City artists, designers, and makers.

Click here to learn more about SouveNEAR.

Its presence grew to the current seven vending machines throughout the airport but SouveNEAR was not included in the overarching retail, restaurant, and service package selected for the new KCI single terminal, said founders Suzanne Southard and Tiffany King, both local entrepreneurs.

“Our working relationship with KCI has always been fantastic and we appreciate the solid start Kansas City offered our small business,” the duo told Startland News in a statement. “We would certainly have loved to stay at KCI. It’s bittersweet. As Kansas Citians, we’re so thrilled for the new airport and the opportunities it will bring.”

Vantage Airport Group was selected by KCMO in October 2021 to manage the $1.5 billion terminal’s food, beverage and retail operations in Kansas City. The group selected a wide range of local brands — from Guys Snacks to Parisi Coffee and Poio Mexican Barbeque to Made in KC, which itself will sell a slew of Kansas City-made goods.

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SouveNEAR at Kansas City International Airport

SouveNEAR was included in two of the largest airport concession management proposals submitted to the city, Southard and King said, but not the winning Vantage bid. The two noted they’d been communicating with Vantage and its retail partner in hopes of maintaining some presence at the new terminal, but have made no headway.

“As a small business that made it through the days of parked airplanes and travel stoppages followed by diminished travel, it’s super disappointing to lose our best venue just as travel is back to normal,” they said. “In Kansas City, over 95 percent of our sales come from our airport machines, so this will be a huge hit to our Kansas City operations (as well as our overall operations, as Kansas City holds a disproportionate share of our machines).”

For now, SouveNEAR’s vending location at Union Station will remain in place, as Southard and King continue to explore other locations for its KCI machines. (The brand also operates machines in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Las Vegas, Sacramento and Oakland airports, along with Salesforce Transit Center and the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco.)

“We’re so grateful to all the KCI travelers who supported us through the years,” said King. “We’ve had strong sales here and had hoped to remain in the airport, where we got our hometown start.”

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Suzanne Southard and Tiffany King, SouveNEAR

King and Southard started the unique vending machine business because they wanted to support local artists by making it easy for travelers to quickly find and purchase their goods. The idea developed naturally from their own travel experience and interests.

Click here for more on SouveNEAR’s origins and moves to scale the business.

“We both love to buy gifts from local artists,” Southard said. “When we traveled, we found it hard to find gifts actually connected with the places we were visiting. If we were last-minute shopping at the airport, we often ended up buying souvenirs we didn’t love. We wanted to change that and thought it could be a meaningful business opportunity.”

SouveNEAR was started with very little money and a single used vending machine already located at the airport, the duo said. 

“KCI championed our vision and took a chance on us early, allowing us to test our idea and grow our business from there, both in Kansas City and in other cities,” King said. With that growth, SouveNEAR has successfully grown sales and visibility for more area artists. “We’ve loved hearing again and again from artists that customers discovered them in our machines. That’s what we hoped for when we started.”

The co-founders express pride and gratitude for the opportunity to work with many talented members of Kansas City’s creative community, they said, noting they anticipate seeing some of their most popular makers included in other retail offerings within KCI, like Made in KC

The team is working on ideas to pivot SouveNEAR’s efforts in Kansas City, said King.

“We’re considering a shift in our model, in addition to exploring new locations,” she said. “But, losing KCI will definitely have a negative impact on our overall business, because this is our biggest venue. And, we’re just sorry to lose our hometown airport. It’s been great for us.”